I finally got to watch The Godfather for the first time, and I was blown away by this masterpiece. I can’t believe I knew nothing about these movies, except for that ‘ballroom kiss’ in the sequel, and I still don’t know the context behind that scene.
The Godfather is an excellent piece of filmmaking, and I can’t believe I missed out on watching this movie for years. I’m not exactly a fan of mafia media, but wow, this one is probably the best piece of Mafia fiction I have ever seen in my whole life.
We follow the story of a Mafia family, who begins to meet their downfall once they make the mistake of refusing a deal with another family. The real story follows another character, the underdog of the film that becomes a terrifying villain by the end of the film.
The Corleone family starts to meet their end when they refuse an offer.
Credit to Marlon Brando Built An Entire Life For The Godfather’s Vito Corleone
Vito Corleone is considered to be the Godfather of the family, a bad group who had made reasonable deals to keep the family afloat. In the beginning of the film, we see his deals in action, as he helps family members, friends of the family take care of their own problems, as a wedding is occurring at his residence. We get a taste of how this family runs, once we get one glimpse into a deal that gets refused by a movie producer who does not want one of Vito’s sons to star in his movie.
They attempt to convince him again, but the director refuses, and this leads to a shocking and violent scene of the director discovering the head of his favorite horse, in his bed. This scene proves that this family is not to be messed with, and Vito’s luck finally runs out when they refuse a deal from another family. Vito is suddenly shot on the street later on, and he barely survives his ordeal.
This deadly event leads to one of Vito’s sons, becoming the scapegoat to do whatever it takes to protect the family from further harm.
Michael Corleone is forced to give up his normal life to save his family.
Credit to Michael Corleone’s Shopping Attire in The Godfather » BAMF Style
Michael had escaped from his family’s ordeals, in order to avoid becoming like them. Once he hears about his father’s attempted murder, he returns to the fold, determined to ensure no more harm comes to his family. He abandons his girlfriend, Kay, who was his shot at somewhat of a normal life, and goes back to his family to come up with a plan.
He tells his family that he is going to kill the one that set up the attempted murder of Vito, including a police sergeant that is working for the other families. The family is shocked by this crazy plan, but they agree to help him. They tell Michael that after the murders, he must leave America to avoid getting killed. He agrees, and goes along with the plan.
He tells his family that he is going to meet up with these two men, and he wants his family to plant the gun in the bathroom of the restaurant, so that they won’t suspect a thing. During this intense scene, Michael is battling the demons within himself, getting ready to commit a heinous act. He goes through with the plan in the end, killing both men and fleeing the to another country.
Michael gets another chance at a happy life, but everything goes wrong with two more deaths within the family.
Credit to Pin on Theory of Types
As Michael is enjoying his new life in another country with a new woman that he marries, his new life goes down the drain. Back in America, one of his brothers, named Sonny, is the next one to die. He is extremely protected of his sister, Connie, who is married to an abusive man. Once Sonny hears about Connie getting beat up again while pregnant, he goes on the hunt for her husband.
This ends up becoming his death sentence, once he finds himself surrounded by a lot of men with guns. He is gunned down in such a violent way, that was probably the most realistic overkill gun death I have seen in a movie. Michael hears about Sonny’s death back at home, and while he is trying to continue to remain low in his new home, he discovers that the families had reached him in his country.
A death that was meant for him, is given to his new wife, when he realizes too late that the families had planted a bomb in his car. This leads to Michael making the decision to return home, as Vito desperately tries to make amends with the other families. He demands for peace, and the families agree to this decision.
Vito is the next one to die, while playing with one of his grandchildren, and he passes on the title to his son, Michael.
Michael becomes the new Don of the family, and makes a shocking decision to ensure his dominance over the other families.
Credit to The Godfather I (1972)- Baptism Scene, Michael Kills all the heads of the other families
While his father wanted peace, Michael did not choose the same path as his father did. Michael secretly plans a hit on other Dons in charge of the four families, having each of them executed while he is attending a baptism of his sister’s child. This felt like a metaphor for Michael’s character, like he was starting fresh in his life, getting rid of the old Michael, and becoming the new Don of the Corleone family.
He also ties up two other loose ends, when he finds two traitors in the family. He has both of them killed, and one of them included Connie’s husband, who wanted revenge against Sonny for daring to stand up to him to defend Connie.
Michael now has a new life with Kay, that has now become his wife. Kay refuses to acknowledge what Michael has become, and he lies to Kay, to protect her from the truth of the secret murders he had planned. The movie ends with Kay watching men greet Michael, sealing the deal that Michael is now the new Don, the new leader that is now a huge threat to his enemies.
Michael’s evolution from a normal young man to an evil one is tragic. I believe that Michael did have this darkness within him all along, but he refused to acknowledge this, until his family was threatened.
Michael’s life was torn away from him, and he was forced to become a villain, to protect the future of the Corleone family.
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Thank you for reading!
Emy Quinn
